my busy weekend...

a little pinch of salt.

Here are some texts extracted from books of famous authors. It really amazes me that people living in the 15th or 16th century can write so well and yet many writers of today keep turning out books that are just rubbish. I am no author myself but oh how I wish there were an overflowing abundance of books like these, in this day and age. Enjoy!

----###----

Nothing that I more cherish and admire
Than honest zeal and true religious fire.
So there is nothing that I find more base
Than specious piety's dishonest face.

-Tartuffe by Moliere

...I believe nothing of the sort. I find that everything goes wrong in
our world; that nobody knows his place in society or his
duty, what he's doing or what he ought to be doing, and that outside
of mealtimes...the rest of the day is spent in useless
quarrels...-it's one unending warfare.

-Candide by Voltaire

IDLE READER: thou mayest believe me without any oath that I would
this book, as it is the child of my brain, were the fairest, gayest,
and cleverest that could be imagined. But I could not counteract
Nature's law that everything shall beget its like; and what, then,
could this sterile, illtilled wit of mine beget but the story of a
dry, shrivelled, whimsical offspring, full of thoughts of all sorts
and such as never came into any other imagination- just what might
be begotten in a prison, where every misery is lodged and every
doleful sound makes its dwelling? Tranquillity, a cheerful retreat,
pleasant fields, bright skies, murmuring brooks, peace of mind,
these are the things that go far to make even the most barren muses
fertile, and bring into the world births that fill it with wonder
and delight.

-Don Quixote By Cervantes

Ineffable providence has thus set before us two goals to aim at: i.e. happiness in this life, which consists in the exercise of our own powers and is figured in the earthly paradise; and happiness in the eternal life, which consists in the enjoyment of the vision of God (to which our own powers cannot raise us except with the help of God's light) and which is signified by the heavenly paradise. Now these two kinds of happiness must be reached by different means, as representing different ends. For we attain the first through the teachings of philosophy, provided that we follow them putting into practice the moral and intellectual virtues; whereas we attain the second through spiritual teachings which transcend human reason, provided that we follow them putting into practice the theological virtues, i.e. faith, hope, and charity. These ends and the means to attain them have been shown to us on the one hand by human reason, which has been entirely revealed to us by the philosophers, and on the other by the Holy Spirit . . .

- The Monarchia by Alighieri

Help... Call the Fashion Police.

As I was reading the papers today, it suddenly dawned on me that all the fashion critics are about what women wear. Usually you'll see all the HITS and MISSES in the weeks fashion are about women. How come they never write anything about men and their dressing? Then it hit me... how wrong can a guy really go? Men are usually in jeans and t-shirts or in a suit. There is very little that men can wear that will go horribly wrong. Knowing that fact, why are there so many Singaporean Men that just cannot dress themselves? Some of their dressings are just down right dreadful. Singaporean men have one major problem, and that is, SHOES. Why do they all think that one pair of shoe is enough? I've seen so many people wear the same pair of shoes for running/sports, going to town, going clubbing and other formal functions. Why can't they see that by wearing one pair of shoe all the time for every function, they look really weird. Men, learn to invest in another pair of shoe for going out, rather than wear the same shoe you wore to play basketball or street soccer. Many of you know that I'm a shoe whore. I love shoes and I have alot of pairs of shoes. I believe that shoes are what makes a man. You could have the most expensive suit on or jeans on or whatever but if you don't have the right pair of shoe to match the outfit, you will look really dumb. So please, guys, lets try not to look stupid by wearing the same pair of shoes for everything. Trust me, people DO notice and they WILL talk.

Twist of Fate.

Venue : Prickly Bush/G-Spot Bar
Time : Can't remember
Objective : I couldn't really tell what the objectives were at that point of time.
Conclusion : Where else would you see a group of guys playing twister in a bar with their girlfriends watching by the side? Haha... we had fun that night. I had like major cramps and muscle aches after the game. But it was worth it and I'll do it again if given the chance.

my fan is that small

Top executives should rate their subordinates on loyalty and competence. Those who are more loyal than competent should be fired
because they are the dangerous ones.
They will stay forever while other more competent,
less loyal people will jump ship
as problems develop.
And the loyal, noncompetent subordinates will “protect”
their bosses from the truth. Reality will be
too threatening and ugly.

When truth dies, really bad things happen.

Shapiro, Slywotzky and Tedlow